NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE I

This issue started with a presentation of reasons why the American health system was failing and why a national insurance program would not work. The basis of this claim was detailed in a side bar outlining the differences between the uniqueness of health care and other service segments of the economy. When published, the same motivations (today called drivers) were in place with profit as the cornerstone. This publication noted that the government through its involvement in Medicare (aged), Medicaid (poor), the VA (millions of active service men, women and dependents and vets), Public Health Service (education and treatment of poor) and care for millions of Native Americans (Indian Health Service) as well as support for basic clinical research was one of the major payers and argued for a greater role to develop a rational system of delivering care. The publication expressed many reasons to unite discrete parts of the health and insurance industries into one universal health services program. But after the resolution of many economic, political and social issues, there is still a need to get into the details for implementation. This, the first of the series, sought to address those issues.